Midnight Club: Los Angeles AU Review

The stunningly pretty arcade racer to beat this Christmas.

Midnight Club is the rock in the open-world street racing genre. It knows what it's about, and every time a new game in the series comes along, you know that Rockstar will take the fundamentals to the next level. Unlike a series like Need for Speed, which changes with every release -- one year it's about underground street racing, the next it's about the legal scene, then you're an undercover cop trying to break crime syndicates by, erm, driving really fast -- Midnight Club: Los Angeles (MCLA) follows a natural progression from DUB Edition. And because the series isn't iterated on yearly (in fact, there's been more than three years between the original release of DUB Edition and MCLA), Rockstar San Diego is really able to hone and perfect each installment.

For MCLA, the team has opted to focus on just one city -- Los Angeles (the clue is in the title), and they've done an incredible job capturing the spirit of the city. All the major streets, suburbs and landmarks have been compressed into what is essentially a "best of L.A." map. In fact, this is L.A. as we wish it was -- you can get from one end of the town to the other with ease (the freeways aren't gridlocked), the streets are lined with iconic locations and shops (not homeless people and long stretches of grey concrete), and you can actually see the buildings in the distance -- there's a bit of smog, but that just helps make the blood-orange setting sun look cool. Even the city's ratty palm trees somehow look alluring.

Bah, who plays in third person?

Anyone who has spent much time in L.A. will revel in driving along Sunset Boulevard, checking out their favourite haunts, or going down to Santa Monica to cause vehicular mayhem along the promenade (note to Rockstar -- the mall at the end of the promenade is no longer there, as we discovered to our chagrin at E3 this year). Hell, you can even head downtown to have a look at the convention centre. Thankfully, however, even those who don't know L.A. are in for a treat. Unlike other games that have been set in the city, Rockstar San Diego has successfully made it interesting. Yes, it's still very flat, but it's a blast to drive in; far less grid-like, and with really distinct sections -- both in terms of the layout of the roads and in terms of the environments. From the winding roads in the Hollywood hills, through to the gleaming skyscrapers downtown, this city has plenty of variety -- low rise and high rise, urban and suburban, beaches and hills, stormwater drains and trainyards.

Importantly, this is also a city that flows. The Midnight Club games have always done this very well, and it has succeeded again. Where Burnout Paradise's city felt unintuitive to drive through -- almost a maze that had to be endured, MCLA's streets work. You won't have to memorise the map, and the alleys and shortcuts always seem to be carefully placed, to keep the action flowing.

One of the best things about the L.A. setting, however, is the GPS map screen. Wow. Remember Test Drive Unlimited's map system? Where you had that great top down view of the island that you could explore and zoom in on, then drop down to street level for races? MCLA takes that and makes it a hundred times cooler. Hit the map button at any time and the game zooms all the way from street level up to a full view of the city from the clouds. From there you can pan around and zoom in, with the top-down view shifting to a three quarter perspective as you get closer. Exit the map and the view zooms straight down, seamlessly moving back into the action. This goes for any transition in the game -- flash your lights at another racer and the game zooms out then back down to the start line. The changes in scale and the smoothness with which the system can zoom in to any point in the city is incredible. Trust us, it looks amazing. Not only does it disguise the short load times, but it just makes the game as a whole feel that much slicker. It's a rush, and we still love hopping in and out of the map.

The whole of Los Angeles is open to the player right from the get-go, and while it's nowhere near as big as the real thing, it's a great size in terms of gameplay. You'll very quickly open up missions and challenges in the world, and it's all presented with far more personality than other games of its ilk. Well, actually, thinking about it, it's not that it has more personality; it's more that its personality isn't forced -- it's natural and engaging, and won't have you rolling your eyes every five seconds.

Remember the mechanic from DUB Edition, who filled you in on how the game worked and what your options were? Well, MCLA expands on that kind of system, and gives your character an identity and a real personality. He'll joke around with other characters in cutscenes, chat and banter with other racers at the start line, and generally help give the world a little more character. As you play you'll build up a network of contacts, and they'll buzz you on your Sidekick to keep you in the loop of the L.A. racing scene. It could easily be grating, but the dialogue is easy and natural, so for us it works. (Although it would be cool if the Sidekick didn't pop up over the mini-map, thus leaving you with no idea where you're going.) It's not about a story, it's just about giving the action some context, and to that end it works well.

Whoever took these screenshots evidently.

Like we said, you'll quickly unlock racing options in L.A., and it won't be long until you have ten or more icons on the GPS map, each representing a race, series, tournament or other option. It's easy enough to set up a GPS link to your racing option of choice (which doesn't tell you how to get there -- it just gives you an arrow on the HUD and a dot on the mini-map), and you can tell how hard a race will be at a glance -- from green icons, which are the easiest, through to red. The difficulty scales in a few ways, but at a basic level your opponents will be more tenacious and the checkpoints will be further apart the higher the difficulty. Getting into a race is simple -- find one of the racers driving around in the world and flash your lights, or head to one of the hangouts.

Midnight Club fans largely know what to expect from the action. Ordered Races and Circuits return, and the checkpoint system works as well as ever. You'll also come across Red Light races, which see you race from the nearest intersection to a landmark on the other side of town, with only one checkpoint. Best of all, when you get to the finish line, you can choose to turn around and race back. Freeway races are a new inclusion too -- flash your lights at a racer on one of the freeways that ring the city and you'll instantly go into a race. This is all about weaving through traffic at speed. Love it. And then there are Time trials. Been there done that, right? Well, kinda. In keeping with MCLA's approach, when you post a new record for a Time Trial, other racers can then come along and beat it, forcing you to up the ante and post an even better time. It's another cool way of making you feel like you're part of a thriving racing scene.

There are a few other variations to help mix things up. You can wager on races, race for pink slips, play delivery missions (like time trials but shorter and the car has to be in good nick), and also go out as the Hollywood Auto avenging angel, trashing the cars of people who haven't paid your mechanic. Then there are Tournaments and Series Races; both series of races, with the former points-based and the latter a 'first to X wins' system.